Shasta Windstorm

The weather looked promising...and then came the wind. Huge contrails of snow curled overhead like giant fingers reaching out over Avalanche Gulch. The sound of it was like a thousand jet engines.

No one summited that day—no one even tried. We scrambled about on hands and knees at Lake Helen to avoid being knocked to the ground, packed up, and beat a hasty retreat back down the hill. Mount Shasta, California.

— June 15, 2006

Andy Lewicky is the author and creator of SierraDescents